


Spellstruck

by Slutinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Merman!Derek, Other characters will be applied soon as the story progresses, Plus there isn't enough Spellcaster!Stiles, Read this because you know you can't get enough of Sterek, So I thought I'd written one, Spellcaster!Stiles, Sterek Campaign, sterek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-27
Packaged: 2017-12-03 12:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slutinski/pseuds/Slutinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - On a normal afternoon, Stiles goes with his dad to a summer lake house for the summer for some father and son bonding. At the lake house, Stiles notices that he can feel something in the air that he didn’t even expect or even thought to have found out. What Stiles doesn’t know is that this place is something more than a lake house. And a certain merman can prove that. But that isn’t the only thing. Something has changed about Stiles. Something… FUTURE CHAPTERS ARE ON HOLD.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Packing

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: There may or may not be some Sterek sexy time in the future chapter of this story. It all depends on how the story pops up.
> 
> Note: My inspiration came from a fanart drawing that I saw on tumblr recently, but I will have to link it later. Also, it drew me back to when I read a book that revolved around a fantasy-like world that was only contained on the property of the lake house. Although I can’t remember the title, I’ll probably remember it in a later chapter and post up the title for reference.

_I hope this summer isn’t going to be boring_ , Stiles thought to himself as he stuffed his last shirt into his luggage. Sheriff Stilinski, or so everyone in town calls him that since he’s the town’s Chief Officer, had decided that since Stiles had so much to do with school and he had so much to deal with at work, he would take a leave and spend the summer with his son doing father and son stuff to get closer to Stiles. The buzz-cut teenager was all for it due to the fact that he had also agreed that they weren’t spending that much time together, not counting the times that he would constantly follow his dad on night patrols and night watching.

The chocolate-haired boy licked his chapped lips, writing a note (which actually formed into a letter) to Scott to inform him of his leaving. Stiles thought that Scott might be too busy with Allison that he would just save him the trouble and just write a note to him to inform him that he’s leaving for the summer to their family’s lake house. Knowing Scott, if he can’t get into the front door, he might as well use Stiles’ window to get in. He placed the note on his computer desk before stuffing his MacBook into his backpack so that he was sure that he would make sure that he wasn’t off the planet and have no technology to contact the outside.

A knock on the door took him by surprise. He’d been so busy thinking about what in the world the two men were going to do at the lake house with just them in it. Stiles wanted to ask about bringing Scott along, but he thought again; Scott would’ve been busy with Allison and he thought that his dad wouldn’t be able to spend that much time with him, and that was basically the whole point of this trip.

“Stiles,” He heard the creaking of his door opening, and Sheriff was standing on the other side of the door frame. Stiles packed the last of his things before turning around.

“Yeah, dad?” he asked calmly.

“You sure you want to do this?”

A pause was there for at least a moment. Stiles questioned himself with thoughts and questions that bolted back and forth in his mind. But he didn’t want to break his dad’s heart by rejecting his idea about hanging out together for the summer. His dad was the only family that Stiles had left, and he wanted to make sure that he isn’t going to lose him either.

“I’m very sure, dad. It’ll be fun,” Stiles replied with a tranquil, reassuring smile forming across his blackhead-freckled face. The way Stiles smiled was something that you won’t find on any other sweet and innocent boy. Stiles was the kind of person who was pure at heart, with a personality of someone who was sweet, kind, caring. Despite that he’s very hyper-active, it was his way to get everyone to be active instead being drowsy and dull like normal people would act like.

The sheriff nodded in a slow motion with a questionable yet unsure look on his face, but soon shrugged it off as he closed the door. “Me too.”

After half an hour getting all their stuff loaded into Sheriff’s new car, a 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe with a color to match Stiles’ Jeep, Stiles walked into the house to take one last run-through of every last detail. He does this not because he’s afraid that something might get stolen on the month that they aren’t going to be around. It’s because he was probably going to miss this place even though it’s only for a month, which would probably feel like years once there already. One silent, peaceful walk through around the hallways and up to his bedroom; he made sure to leave the key on the outside windowsill for Scott to obtain if he were to ever get into his house to find the note lying there on the desk.

A honk of his dad’s car horn was all it took to snap Stiles back to reality, realizing that he was taking longer than he should’ve been. Quickly glancing at every last piece and corner of his room to check if he was forgetting anything, he slowly closed his door, locking it with his key before running downstairs and out of the house. Stiles couldn’t wait to return home because of the fact that once he stepped down those steps of his porch, he already missed lying in his comfy bed, stargazing at his ceiling and thinking about something random for five seconds before going on a hyperactive talk spree with Scott on the phone.

The boy got into his Jeep, backed out of the parking lot, and drove onto the road right behind his dad. The car ride was silent. Stiles had the option of riding with his dad and get to experience how fast his car was, but he didn’t want to leave his Jeep behind. His precious baby. Even though is looked like it was beaten down, keyed multiple times, hit with a baseball bat, and dented from multiple accidents in the parking lot, Stiles still loved that Jeep, having to go through so much moments with him. He wouldn’t want to risk it leaving it anywhere that wasn’t in a short distance of twenty feet.

For five hours, two stops to two Subway restaurants to grab a bite to eat, three stops to gas stations to fuel up the tanks, one flat Jeep tire, and countless stops for pedestrians was all it took for them to finally reach the road leading to the lake house.

The lake house wasn’t Stilinski property, but it is now since his dad was able to afford it with his new raises that he had been getting. The lake house was now added to their assets of their new life style that was to grow and improve in the coming years for the Stilinskis. Stiles wondered about what it would look like. He was expecting that it would probably be just some old rundown wooden house left behind by the old owners which forced the local government to have the right to sell the property. But what Stiles thought was way different from what he was about to see.

Pulling into the paved road, Stiles let out a silent ‘Huh’ as a form of disbelief. Looking at just the sign, it was probably going to be something different from what Stiles was expecting. The sign read out ‘Haven Lake’. The sign, standing on a gray steak that was plunged into the ground, was bordered with dark purple floral outlines with a charcoal gray fleur-de-lis sitting on the top of it. Driving in took them five minutes because of how the road was set up. There were so many unexpected valleys and hills that they were coming across. He figured that even his dad was questioning to himself why the road was so complicated.

Until finally, they reached their destination.

The lake house was nothing that Stiles was expecting. In fact, it was far from that. He was practically star struck from staring at it as he drove into the drive way after his dad’s car. The walls looked like they were made of dark oak wood that were perfectly aligned with each other to form walls. The structure was three floors, counting that it was on top of a hill and the bottom floor was on the other side leading to the lake that the house over looked. To wow him even more, the windows were made out of stain glass looked like they were built into the oak wood to have a natural effect. It was sort of a natural but modern kind of feel.

The boy exited out of his car and so did his dad. He was still gazing upon the structure before him before he was cut off by the sound of his dad’s chuckle.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Amazing? Try unbelievable! How did you get this?” Stiles interrogated as his dad put an arm around his son’s shoulder. The both gazed upon the house that reflected the afternoon sun beams that were shining on the windows.

“I was able to get it for an affordable price, but that’s nothing we should discuss. We’re here to enjoy the summer, and what better to do that with a brand new lake house and a private lake.”

Stiles grinned from cheek to cheek as he closed his Jeep door, heading over to his dad’s car to help him with the baggage onto the front porch. The place looked marvelous, and even the porch looked peaceful as well. Hanging potted plants that held orchids that flowed out and down from the pot as a state of being overgrown. The teenager couldn’t wait to see what the lake looked like at night.

The sheriff inserted the keys into the keyhole and turned the lock to the right, triggering it to become unlocked. Opening the wooden door that happened to have no creaking at all, the air contained inside of the house blew to Stiles’ face. It smelled like flowers for some reason, but thing that questioned the teenage boy were why there was a draft coming from a concealed house. But he decided to shake the though off as they entered into the foyer.

The living room was two floors high with a balcony that looked over what they would refer to as the great room. Hanging on top of the steel fireplace was bear fur in the form of a fleur-de-lis much like the one Stiles saw on the sign earlier. Candle-stick holders stuck out of the stone walls that held light bulbs that looked to be in the form of candle sticks. A streak of green vines outlines and hugged the balcony railings and the staircase as if it were a tree branch.

To Stiles, this was probably a home for someone who really enjoys nature, and although he never thought that he was one, that thought changed until today.

“You can go ahead and check your room upstairs,” his dad spoke, “it’s on the other side of the balcony.”

Stiles nodded in reply and picked up his bags, heading towards the stairs slowly as he continued to gaze upon the details of the living room, the stone work and the fur decorations that were hanging on the walls. For someone like the sheriff, no one would ever expect him to own something such as a lake house filled with flowers and things of that category.

When reaching the top of the staircase and walking to the other hallway that led to the bedroom situated for Stiles, he set down one of his bags and opened the wooden door, which happened to have a fleur-de-lis nailed onto the tip center of it, much to Stiles’ surprise. The bedroom was something different from the rest of the house. The bed was framed with silver curtains that were almost transparent. The bed of course had a wooden frame but the pillows and blankets were made out of bear fur, which felt excessively comfortable to Stiles’ liking as he plopped onto the bed and felt the fur sliding against his skin.

He could almost have fallen asleep already until his dad broke that thought up with something else.

“Stiles, come outside. I want to show you something.” That was all he said before he made his way downstairs. Stiles tailed him once again leading into the back porch that overlooked the lake. The porch tiles were mosaic-like and had a barbecue area on one side of the porch and a sitting area on the other. Although the view of the lake was remarkable, he had a feeling that the lake wasn’t the something that his dad wanted to show him.

“Come here,” he called out from the grassy outline of the lake. What he saw was his dad petting a Red Fox, something that was out of the ordinary for him because he didn’t think that foxes were considered to be house pets since they were wild animals.

“He came with the house, you know, this little fella right here.” The sheriff continued to stroke its fur. It wasn’t a fully grown fox just yet, but it was fully grown just enough to have survived on its own seeing that it didn’t belong to a family or anything. Stiles knelt onto the grassy floor and slowly reached in to pet its head. The fur felt soft and velvety. It reminded him of his fur blankets up in his room. He smiled softly as he continued to pet it.

“Can I name him?” Stiles asked.

“Sure, go ahead. But it’ll be your responsibility if you want to keep him here.”

“I will. But is he allowed to go into the house?”

Mr. Stilinski contemplated for a few seconds. “Well, if he doesn’t break anything then yes. But remember, he’s a wild animal, so you must always let him have access to the outdoors. Don’t keep him up inside like a prisoner.”

Stiles chuckled a bit and nodded. “Got it, dad.”

He picked up the pup-like creature into his arms and continued to pet it, and it seemed to snuggle onto his chest and arms as though he were its parent. Stiles smiled as he stood, turning around and heading back inside the house. Stiles thought to himself about today. Maybe this vacation isn’t going to be so bad after all. He would finally get to experience the outdoors and what there was to explore around this place since the house wasn’t the only thing on the property. His dad, back at their house, explained that it had a courtyard and a garden somewhere in the forest with a path leading to them so that the residing wouldn’t get lost. So much to explore in such a large amount of time. The teen boy was finally going get to relax and better yet get some time to spend with his dad and get a chance to become closer. This summer was probably going to be his best summer yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I know the ending of this chapter pretty much sucked but I didn’t know how to end it okay it was just out of nowhere because I’ve got so much planned for the future chapter and YEAH STEREK FEELS. Please review or comment for feedback because I loved me some reviews :D


	2. Acquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a normal afternoon, Stiles goes with his dad to a summer lake house for the summer for some father and son bonding. At the lake house, Stiles notices that he can feel something in the air that he didn’t even expect or even thought to have found out. What Stiles doesn’t know is that this place is something more than a lake house. And a certain merman can prove that. But that isn’t the only thing. Something has changed about Stiles. Something… Merman!Derek & Spellcaster!Stiles STEREK AU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole story from now own is going to be based on Stiles’ point of view unless stated otherwise that it might shift back to Narrator’s POV or even on a rare occasion Derek’s POV. It’ll all change in time as the story progresses. On another note, enjoy!

I must’ve fallen asleep right after I took Esther up to my bedroom. Yes, I named him Esther. I didn’t know why I named him that; it was probably just a random name that I just happened to first think of at the top of my head. I’m not really good at naming pets and having clever names, so I just went with a simple one, one that I’ll probably recognize and hopefully Esther will recognize it as well. The fur blankets were so comfortable and I actually had a good night’s sleep. It was probably the first I’ve had in a long time and it felt overwhelming.

Esther slept on the foot on the bed and I was surprised that he stayed there the whole night. He sometimes would transfer over to lie next to me. Other times he would stay away and roam around the bedroom for some reason. I left the door open just so that he would be able to get outside, and knowing that we were in a secluded area, there weren’t any houses for acres so I don’t think that anyone would break into the house.

The only buildings that were near here was a small local department store for the other residents to come and get supplies and food for whatever purpose because driving into town was probably time and gas consuming. And we all know how much the gas prices are now. The other buildings were a small post office, a police station (which I know my dad would probably be expected to stop by at anytime soon), a gas station, and a local bar and grill. I wasn’t able to get to actually look at them closely because I’d been driving and paying attention to what’s on the road instead of what was beside it.

I tossed the edge of the blanket over the other side of the bed as I climbed out, with Esther already up and about. It seemed to have a jingling collar, and that tag just happened to be a circle with a fleur-de-lis in the center of it. Maybe it was some sort of symbol that came with the house or probably a family crest that the original owners had with the house. I bent down to ruffle the fur on his head before limping down the hallway, until I finally gained some composure and posture.

I could smell food in the kitchen, which was a sign that my dad was already up. Fried eggs sunny-side up, bacon strips, Portuguese sausages, and some orange juice thrown in there I would expect with his awesome pancakes that I loved since I was a kid. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen to see my dad still frying the last batch of bacon strips. I could already hear my stomach growling since I didn’t have anything to eat since we got here. I took a whiff of the aroma that smacked against my face. The morning sun was beaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows that lit up the house in such a vibrant tone.

“Smells delicious, dad,” I began.

“Morning to you too, son. Have a good sleep?” he asked with a soft grin.

“To be honest, it was the best I’ve had in a long time. Those blankets and pillows sure know how to do the trick in putting someone to sleep because I’ve seemed to have knocked out right where I walked into the room yesterday.”

The sheriff chuckled and nodded in reply as he scraped the last piece of bacon from the frying pan and setting the plate down onto the marble surface of the island countertop. I seemed to have notice that the major framework of this house was not only oak wood, but many other types of wood as well judging by some of the items in the house. Even stonework and textiles.

We both sat down on the stools across each other and started munching on our morning feast as we go ahead and talk about random topics like my dad mentioning that he was probably going to check out the local police station today and how I was planning to go and explore the rest of the grounds.

“Be careful, Stiles. We don’t know what’s out there yet so I need you to stay as close to the house as possible.”

I nodded nonchalantly. “I know that dad. Don’t worry; Esther will be by my side so he’ll witness anything that happens.”

“You named the fox Esther?” he questioned with a brow raised.

“I couldn’t think of any other name, okay.”

“What about Sly?”

I scoffed and chuckled a bit. “Really, dad. After the video game I used to play when I was a kid?”

“Hey, I think it’s a great name to name a fox. I was going to name it that if you weren’t.”

I shrugged and took another bite of bacon before answering after swallowing the chunk. “Alright, Sly it is then. I’ll probably have to teach him that name now since he might be used to me calling him Esther.”

“Reminds me of that creepy orphan lady in that scary movie.”

“Dad, it wasn’t really that scary.”

“You’d be scared too if you had adopt a person who just happened to by a psycho killer crazy kind of lady.”

 

The sun was continuing its journey through the morning sky as it almost crossed with the noon hour. My dad already left with his car to check out the local station. I think he left about an hour ago and I had a feeling that he wouldn’t return until dinner time or somewhere around the hours before the evening. After taking a quick morning shower and dressing in some board shorts and a black tank top, I finally stepped outside onto the porch and began thinking where I was to explore first.

The thing about this property was that it was huge. I didn’t even know how many acres of land it extended outward but from how my dad explained it to me, it probably goes pretty deep inside of the forest. As usual, the lake was right outside of our house along with three paths on the other side of it. I called out to Sly, my newly appointed companion for this adventure to come with me so that I won’t feel so alone. As we headed towards the first path that was closest to my house, I examined the pavement.

The pavement was concrete and the fleur-de-lis engraved onto every other tile. It was a pale kind of white but was align with white and purple orchids that seemed to accent the edges along with many other kinds of flowers I might not have been able to identify. I could hear the wind rustling through the leaves and the trees. The silence here was peaceful, but it felt eerie and spine-chilling how it was just that silent.

I was never used to being silent because you know how I’m always the hyperactive one in a group. Silence is something that just does not compute with me. But again, it felt weird having to experience this especially since we were out of bounds from the rest of the world. Slowly walking along the path, I listened closely to the wind, not just for boredom, but because I thought I heard a voice coming through it. It wasn’t a low, deep voice. It sounded more like a small child, with a high tone. I shook my head to snap back into reality until I heard the voice no more. I shrugged it off; it was probably just the wind.

Just my luck, we’ve come across a fork in the path. The path had now leaded us to choose between the left path or the right. Judging by looking from a distance, there was something slightly visible to my left that looked like a small pavilion. So I decided to save the right path for later and explore the left. I grabbed Sly and hugged him softly onto my chest as I continued to walk further and further to the pavilion until we were finally there.

The pavilion was white and made of marble which was something I found unusual to see for my personal experience. It had a mahogany picnic table in the center of the pavilion with a vase full of sunflowers in its center. And to my surprise, it was overlooking a second lake, but this one looked a little deeper judging by the color.

The lake here was much smaller than the one back at the house. The lake was accented with orange looking flowers that I didn’t know what the name for it was nor did it ever look familiar to me. I walked closer and closer to the lake and for some odd reason, Sly started a low growl like he knew something was there. But what was there? I saw nothing but a lake, unless he saw something that I couldn’t? And that thought really did not make me feel at ease. As he continued, I looked up at the canopies of the trees as the wind continued to rustle through them. Then a sound of splashing caught my attention and Sly’s growl became louder as he leaped out of my arms and onto the ground in the form of a stance like he was getting ready to attack something.

What I saw was a man coming out of the water, or half his body actually. He didn’t look that old, maybe in his early twenties or something. His hair was jet black and judging by his physical form, he looked like he went to the gym often. I also noticed that there was a mark on his back on the top center. It was three swirls that were connected together by their ends, and I think that’s all I could ever come up with to try and describe it. I don’t think he seemed to notice of my presence until Sly’s growl became louder and I suddenly had the urge to speak.

“Excuse m-” the man turned around in shock and dived down into the water as if frightened of something, or frightened of me. I raised a brow as I stepped closer and closer to the lake.

“Sly, it’s okay. You can stop growling.” After a few seconds, he answered the response with a retreat back to the pavilion where he laid under the picnic table.

I tried to focus my vision onto the water to try and see if the man was there. He was bound to come up some time to get a breath, right? Unless he had some talent where he could hold his breath under for a long period of time then that would be pretty impressive. Finally, I could see his head surfacing from the murky depths of the small lake but only stuck out up to his nose to breath.

I smiled softly at the man. “Hi there” I presented myself and moved forward to extend a hand. But apparently he didn’t like that gesture because he seemed to be backing away. I raised a brow at this and was like “okay?”

I slid my extended hand into my board shorts pocket. “Um, do you… are you living on this property?”

It took him a while for him to answer. He looked like he was studying me, processing my form into his mind to get a grasp on how I looked like. “Yes…” He finally spoke. His voice was deeper than mine and sounded more masculine, where as mine was… well you get the picture. “I’m the uh… the grounds keeper.”

I nodded in reply. “Oh, cool. Uh, I’m Stiles. You probably have met my dad already?”

Again it took him a moment to reply. “Derek. Yeah, I’ve met your dad.”

“Nice.” That was all I could say before it got awkwardly silent between the two of us because I broke of the silence with a chuckle. He seemed to still be examining me as if I was some sort of new alien species that was recently discovered.

“Aren’t you going to come out of the water?” I asked nicely.

“I… I can’t…” he replied slowly.

“How come?”

“Uh… I- I just can’t. I don’t have my uh, my clothes with me.”

Whoa there. Didn’t expect that. “So… you’re skinny dipping? In the lake?”

He looked at me with a questioning look like he didn’t know what the term skinny dipping meant. “You know, skinny dipping. Swimming without any clothes on.”

“Oh, yeah. Right, yes.”

“Stiles!” A voice from afar yelled. That was most likely my dad. I turned my head to listen again, and the voice repeated the name calling once again. I regained my posture and turned back to face the man to tell him that I had to go, but suddenly he was nowhere to be found. It was either he just disappeared or just fell back into the water. Either way I had no time to figure it out and would have to come back a second time to see him again. I power walked to the pavilion and called out to Sly and walked back to the main grounds of the property to see what my dad wanted.

After a few minutes to leaving the path to the pavilion, I continued to make my journey back to the house and caught a glimpse of my dad outside on the mosaic porch, looking relieved to see me. I approached him finally.

“Thought you ran off somewhere,” he said sounding relieved.

“I’m fine, dad. I just went walking around to do some exploring.”

“Ah, I see. And did you find anything interesting?”

“Well, the first path,” I turned and pointed to the one closest to us, “lead to a fork in the road but I managed to come across a marble pavilion with another lake much smaller than the one right there.”

“Really. I should take a look at it sometime.”

“You should. And you never told me we had a grounds keeper here.”

“What?” he questioned. He looked at me with a questionable expression as if he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“You know, the grounds keeper. Derek. Says he met you.”

“Who in the world is Derek?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I thought I should stop it right there to keep you questioning as to how Stiles will react and what he is planning to do about this. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Yay, Derek and Stiles finally met. And oooh, who doesn’t like Derek without a shirt right? Also on a side note, I’ve decided to make a map for the property but I don’t think I’ll put it up yet until maybe the fifth chapter or something just to nail out all the possible locations there are.


	3. The Bookcase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a tumblr, please don’t hesitate to send in any Sterek prompts that you have and want to see written. My tumblr is currently increstable.tumblr.com until I find a way to change it to -sterek-.tumblr.com but I have a feeling that it might not cooperate with me and I’ll have to create a new blog or might have to.
> 
> EDIT: I changed my URL to sourwollf.tumblr.com!

So there are two things I know about this Derek guy. One, he lied to me about ever getting acquainted with my dad; and two, gives off this sort of vibe that he wants me to stay away from him. And seeing as how I usually am, I do the complete opposite.

“No one, dad; I must’ve been hallucinating,” I replied minutes later.

I had a plan and I was going to get to the bottom of it. If Derek, if that really is his name, lied to me about meeting me my dad, I want know why he did and what he’s hiding. Why didn’t he want to come out of the water? Why didn’t he want to shake my hand when I was simply trying to perform a friendly gesture? Was he frightened by me? Did I oppose a threat to him? So many questions were running through my mind as my dad took me inside the house because he thinks that it’s the scent of the flowers that got to me.

I sighed as I shrugged, dragging my legs up the stairs along with Sly racing past me and into my bedroom. I think I’ll probably have to find out tomorrow when my dad isn’t here because there is a chance that he wouldn’t want me to go out there again if he thinks that I’ve met someone that I lied doesn’t exist when he actually does.

I locked the door behind me and stood as I scanned the bedroom for something to do to keep my occupied for the night. Walking and pacing around the hardwood flooring was all I was doing at the moment, with Sly watching me from my bed. A vibration on my desk from across the room caught my attention; it was my phone. I walked over to it and picked it up as it still vibrated in my hands. It was Scott. I pressed SEND.

“Hey, man,” I greeted.

“Dude, where the hell are you?” he exclaimed on the other line.

“Jesus, at least tell me you miss me,” I joked.

“Ha ha, funny. No seriously, bro. Where are you? I dropped by your house this afternoon to check if you were there and both your cars weren’t there.”

“I’m taking a vacation with my dad this summer at some lake house that he just bought. You know, father and son bonding stuff.”

“A vacation with your dad? And how is it going so far?”

“Well today, he took a trip to the local station while I explored around the property for a little bit. I have a feeling that might be all I’m going to do this summer if my dad doesn’t come up with something to do for the next two months. If not, then we’ll probably be home by the second week.”

“Wow, must’ve been real fun.”

“Actually, I did find out something interesting today.”

“What was it?”

“Actually, it was a someone. When I was walking through the path today, I came across a smaller lake and some guy was swimming in it or possibly skinny dipping. He said his name was Derek. I don’t know if that’s really his name because he even told me that he met my dad, and my dad was clear that he has never met a Derek since we’ve been here.”

“That sounds pretty freaky. Is the guy from any other house next to yours?”

“Nope, there isn’t any house for miles. We’re the only ones here. Plus the property is big and I don’t think that some guy would just wander around this kind of forest since its pretty thick.”

“That’s what she said.”

We both laughed a bit. “You ass.”

 

It’s been two hours since the call with Scott. He had to get a move on because he was going on a date with Allison to the movies to watch Hansel and Gretel. I really wanted to see that movie but I don’t think I’ll be able to get a chance to and would probably have to wait until it comes out on Blu-Ray. I was completely bored.

There was nothing to do in the room, and already my dad has fast asleep. He was always an early sleeper and an early riser. I don’t know how he does it. I scanned through the book shelves to see if there was anything interesting. So far, all I could see were books like Harry Potter, Maximus Ride, etc. Most of them were all about adventure and fantasy; about worlds far beyond our own and about things that we can’t see. When I reached in for a book called Fablehaven, a trigger was pulled. I flinched at the sudden action and stepped back as the bookcase made confusing sounds such as locks being picked at and doorknobs turning. I stared at it with disbelief until it cracked itself open, revealing a dark tunnel with a staircase at the end.

Okay, so this really was starting to freak me out. I heard Sly’s collar jingle and turned around to look at him. His response is jumping out of the bed and running towards the tunnel and past me.

“Sly, wait!” I called out to him. But he either didn’t want to listen or didn’t hear me call out to him. He was already gone and ran down the stairs as if he knew what was at the end of it. Then I knew that was it. I had to go after him. I had the responsibility of taking care of him and if anything happened to him then my dad would probably kill me.

I walked slowly into the dark tunnel and could feel something like webs crawling onto my face, so I whipped it off as I got closer and closer to the staircase that was giving off a glow. It seemed to have been lit by small torches on the walls. I called out to Sly again and he replied with what sounded like he was barking or something which means that he was alive and alright.

I travelled down the spiral staircase for what seemed like almost a minute until I finally stepped out of the narrow space and into a large room filled with book bases that were stacked almost three floors high.

The room looked like a room you’d expect a large or great library would have. There was a large wooden table in the center along with scattered books on top of its desk. I thought to myself that someone might’ve been down here but judging by the bookshelf and the tunnel, I don’t think it was used in a very long time. I wonder how old this house actually is.

I gazed upon the towering bookcases that were filled with countless books. I saw Sly sitting on the chair behind the desk and looked at me as if he were waiting for me to approach the desk. I slowly took my pace step by step as I continued to get a grasp my current location in which felt like I was in a librarian’s lair.

I studied the books that were laid out on the desk. Some of them looked like they haven’t been touched in years. It was as if someone just fled this place and left all this here without putting them back. The main book that was laid in the center of the table looked pretty thick. I glided my fingers over the rough paper which felt like papyrus. I turned a page over and it started to make crumpling sounds as if it were pretty stiff and I was trying to crumple it into a paper ball.

I pulled the book closer to me and carried it with my hands. The book felt heavy and there were clusters of dust covering the pages. I took I deep breath slowly to make sure that I didn’t sniff in dust, and blew a breath of air, sending the dust particles into the air while I fanned them away for a few seconds before paying attention back to the book. I placed it back down onto the desk and closed it first to read the front cover.

Again, the fleur-de-lis was embossed onto the hard cover. I’m already coming to a conclusion that the original owners must’ve had a family crest or something. I turned the cover over and read the first page. About 95% of it was blank except for a quote that read: “To the next generation of casters.” I raised a brow since I didn’t know what that would even mean or what a caster was. Again I turned the page over and came to a blank page, and to another blank page. I skimmed the book by flipping through until I came to the back page where there was another quote, except longer. I didn’t know what language it was but if I would have to guess, it would be in Latin. I tried to read it out so that I could see if it did sound like it.

“Petere testimonium extra mundum, (I vouch to seek the world beyond)  
protegat et omnia tenebris ad lucem est. (and protect all things from dusk till dawn.)  
Ut et ipsi veniant in tenebris, (And should the dark have come to seek)  
alligent, non infirma.” (Cast a spell, I shan’t be weak.)

A loud bang startled me and made me flinch, causing me to clumsily drop the book on the table. Sly started gekkering and looked past me. I turned around and caught a sight of an opened space inside of the wall. I grabbed onto Sly and hugged him close as we both stared at the entranceway. I didn’t know where it would lead, and I didn’t know what I just read. But something in my gut feeling told me to enter into the passageway.

After many turns and twists that seem to have continued to be one long passage, I finally stumbled upon a wooden door. I looked behind me and all I saw was darkness and emptiness aside from the torches that gave the corridor an eerie glow. I turned the knob and pushed the door open. My destination? I’m back outside.

I didn’t know how long I was following this path but it didn’t look like the path that I was on earlier today. This one was wider and more spacious than the other one. I had a feeling that I shouldn’t be out here at night. And it’s only been the second night. I’m not sure if my dad had heard the loud bang from below the house but if he did I think he would’ve found that the bookcase in my room was opened.

I walked silently and tried to hurry, my heart was beating in an almost abnormal pace because of the nervousness I gained from looking at the eerie trees and the moonlight shining down onto the path like-

“Hello, again.”

I flinched in fear as I heard the voice come from behind me and there he was standing almost ten feet in back of me. It was Derek. My heard felt like it had skipped a beat, not only because I was surprise attacked by him, but also because of what he was wearing.

The muscular raven was wearing a fitted black jacket along with a plain white shirt on the inside with black jeans. Knowing me, I like black leather and for it to look on someone this good, I admit that I probably got a little nervous. 

“Um, hi…” I awkwardly replied. “Were you… were you just following me?”

“I… I think so. Why?”

“Because you startled me and I didn’t even see you or heard you come out from anywhere.”

“I’m a pretty silent and stealthy person,” he replied.

“Oh I see. By the way, what’s up with you lying to me that you’ve met my dad?”

His body shifted a little as I mentioned this. “I uh… was caught up in the moment.”

“You’re telling me you made that excuse because you didn’t know what to say?”

Derek stayed silent for a moment before responding with a silent shrug and sliding his hands into his pockets in a shy way. This made me nervously scratch my head but for some reason I didn’t know why I was feeling nervous now.

“Mind if I walk with you?” he asked in a pleasant tone. I smiled softly and nodded as I petted Sly who was still in my arms.

The night continued as it did earlier. The wind rustling against the trees, and suddenly I could see fireflies hovering around us which made the path glow. To my right I noticed the lake that I had seen earlier today which means that I must be close to home. Hopefully the sounds I’ve made in the house didn’t wake up dad because he’d probably be having a search team formed together right about now and I’d see flashing lights while people called for my name.

“So,” Derek started, “you and your dad bought the house?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “he told me that he was able to get it at an affordable price. What’s the history behind it anyway?”  
“The history?” he asked, and he seemed to have shifted as if he were uncomfortable with the question.

“Yeah, the original owners of the lake house.”

He chuckled awkwardly before scratching his head, “I don’t think I should go into detail… it’s a uh… it’s a tragic story you wouldn’t want to hear.”

“Tragic, huh. Must’ve been some hard times.”

“They were…” Derek seemed to have suddenly become down because for the rest of the walk, he hung his head and continued staring at the ground. I couldn’t help but frown myself seeing him like that.

“Hey…” I patted his shoulder once, “you okay?”

He tilted his head up and nodded slowly, giving me an unsure smile before going back down to staring at the ground. I sighed softly before frowning once again. “I’m sorry for mentioning it… I’m just curious, and sometimes curiosity gets the better of me.”

He shook his head in response. “No, it’s alright. Not your fault. Look, we’re here.”

I turned my head to see that we’ve finally reached the end of the path. I stepped onto the grass and turned back to Derek. “Do you wanna come inside?” I asked nicely.

He glanced at the edge of the path before turning his attention back to me. “Uh, that’s alright. I’m good, maybe another time.”

“Alright, so I guess I’ll just… see you tomorrow then? Well if I’m not doing anything with my dad and I happen to come out and explore some more again.”

Derek’s face seemed to have lit up by the suggestion and a small soft smile slid across his face. “Sure, I’d like that.” I grinned back at him and nodded in response before waving goodbye, turning back towards the house and getting back to the room where I closed the bookcase door and made sure that it was concealed until I figure out what to do with the books down below. Something tells me that there’s Derek isn’t telling me something, and I want to find out what that was.


	4. His Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I hope that the last chapter didn’t suck for you guys. In a way I thought that a shy and seemingly broken Derek would be something that I wanted in this story and I honestly have no idea why but I will write what his excuse for acting like that in the future chapters because he has something he’s hiding other than the fact that he’s you know what hahaha I’m evil. Well enjoy!

_What time did I get home last night_ , I thought to myself. I felt completely drained out as if my life force had been sucked out of me during my sleep. I didn’t even know how late I’ve slept in until I looked at the wooden clock hanging over the wooden bookcase door. 1:45pm it read. Was I out that late? It didn’t even feel like it. I thought that I was probably around ten or eleven o’clock. Either way, I would’ve been able to wake up just around nine.

I threw the covers off of me and sat on the bedside just to stretch. A good shower sounded good right about now, just to wake me up. I didn’t see any sight of Sly anywhere so I guessed that he probably left outside already earlier this morning. I stood up and gained my balance before heading for the bathroom.

Thank goodness that I had my own personal bathroom. I don’t really like having to share one bathroom with multiple people regardless of who they were because I thought that it was just unsanitary and to share with people who I don’t know just how sanitary they were is just a shivering thought to think about. I stepped into the bathroom and locked the door, stripping of my pajamas before stepping into the marble tiled shower, closing the glass door and turning on the overhead, setting it to make it hot steamy and relaxing.

The warm water splashed against my face, water droplets trailing themselves a path down my body as I continued to sanitize myself with my Old Spice showering gel. Usually when I shower, it would be my only time to really think about random things. Sometimes I would think about what I’d be doing for the rest of my life, other times I would be thinking about-

The sound of glass shattering from down stairs broke my concentration. I turned the shower off and tried to listen closely to the silence of the house. Nothing seemed to move that I could make out.

“Dad?!” I called out from the shower. Usually if I called out to him, he’d reply telling me that everything’s fine. But I didn’t get any reply this time. Instead there was silence again; filling the house like the oxygen it pretended it was. I grabbed a white towel and wiped myself dry, wrapping it below my waist and stepping out of the shower to go and check out what that shattering came from. I unlocked the door and was greeted with a gust of wind.

This made my heartbeat rise a little as I slowly stepped out of the shower and out of my room, into the hallway I went. The only sound that was visible enough to my ears was the sound of my heels bumping against the hardwood flooring of the hallway and the balcony. I finally entered the balcony that overlooked the great room and saw what the sound was from. A vase was shattered and lying on the ground, the water that was contained in the vase was now surrounding it, spilled all over the floor next to the bear-furred couch. I sighed in relief and made my way downstairs to try and clean it up. As I approached the scene, I knelt down and began reaching for the broken glass, careful not to step on it.

I again called out to my dad to see if he was anywhere to be found. I had a feeling that he wasn’t in the house because he should be able to hear me. Again I didn’t get any response. I was starting to get a little worried. I looked above me to see where the vase had fallen from and apparently it was from the mantle right above the fireplace. I didn’t know what cause it to fall over but I don’t think it was the wind, which was a very chilling thought to think about.

As I reached over to get the broken pieces of glass, something surprised me in the most shocking way possible. The glass levitated off the ground just below the palm of my hand and just above the floor. I froze in my position and rapidly took my hand away, causing the piece of glass to fall back onto the floor once again. I paused. _The fuck?_ I thought. I slowly reached over again with a shaking hand and again this action repeated itself. I raised a brow and decided to test this thing out, running the palm of my hand over the pieces of broken glass and extraordinarily to add to my surprise, the once broken pieces formed back into its original form right as it was before. I stood up from the vase and back again and ran back upstairs and into my room, leaning against the wooden door and catching my breath.

\---------------------------------------------

 

After what seemed like over half an hour of calming myself down and processing what had just happened and what I had just seen and encountered, I exited out of my bedroom back downstairs to the living room, hair dry and fully clothed with a black Ecko Unltd graphic tee and brown and white plaid shorts. The vase was still there in its position on where I left it last. I picked it up and placed it back on the mantle, moving away from it and heading into the kitchen.

I found a note on the marble counter next to the stainless steel stove and picked it up. It was in my dad’s handwriting so I assumed that he left it back. I read the note while leaning on the counter of the island.

_“Dear Stiles,  
I have gone back to Beacon Hills for an important matter. An emergency situation involving the town had just came up and they needed me to head down there to assist them in getting everything together. I left half of the money in your bedroom under your mattress to keep it safe while you were fast asleep. Sly is somewhere outside in the forest so it’s best to go and check on him and see if he’s alright. I’m hoping to be back in two weeks. I want you to be safe. I don’t want you to go out wandering in the forest at night because we’re not even sure what’s out there. I trust you, son. I trust you that you’ll keep yourself fed and safe. Stay indoors at night and don’t let anyone or anything in the house. I’ll see you when I return._

_\- Dad”_

I sighed in sadness. I was down after I read the letter. The whole purpose of this summer vacation was to give us time to spend together and bond and get closer. But how can we do that when he’s always getting called out to duty? That’s the only thing that I hated about his job. It takes him away from me and I never get to see him until he gets home for dinner at night, and it’s something not always pleasant because he’s tired and wants to get to bed. Again, I sighed as I folded the note, or actually I crumpled it in sudden anger and crushed it in the palm of my hand. I opened it, but suddenly the note wasn’t there anymore.

This was really started to get the better of me and I had no idea what in the world was going on. The only person I needed to turn to was Derek. I would turn to Scott, Allison, or even Lydia but I’m sure that they’re busy with other things and have their own problems to worry about. So the only choice and the only person close enough from here to get in touch with was Derek. I just needed comfort, and I even wanted to ask him about the library below the house and the things I’ve been encountering.

I grabbed the house key on the coat rack and exited the house, locking the front door before heading out to the pathway that I’ve been through. I looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun had gone down a bit. I picked up my phone from my front pocket and examined the screen. 4:49pm was what it displayed on the lock screen. I wonder how long I actually took in the shower. Time goes by so fast once you don’t even bother to pay attention to it.

I walked nervously on the path and crossed the split section of where I was at before and took a left, hoping that Derek was at the pavilion from the first time I saw him. I had to admit, seeing someone skinny dipping in a lake on your own private property doesn’t really look like a good first impression. But I also had to admit that I was kind of… I don’t know… attracted about the thought. I remembered back when I questioned myself and Scott and even my dad about the possibility that I might turn the other way. I just didn’t know how I was to confirm that. But I think Derek was the one that helped me finally decide on that.

I reached the pavilion and sat on the picnic table, gazing at the lake and looking around for a few minutes before I stood up. I called out to Sly, hoping that he would hear me but I didn’t get anything in return. I didn’t even hear his collar jingle from the distance. Is this what it feels like to feel alone? Is this how it sounded like? What am I asking, of course it is. I was practically alone almost my whole life so I think I’ve already gotten used to it and feeling somewhat abandoned.

“Stiles?” I turned around in an instant and saw Derek standing on the other side of the pavilion, a smile forming on his face, and even on mine.

“Derek, hey,” I replied. I gestured him to have a seat and took a seat across him.

“How’d you know I would come?”

“Well I heard your voice calling out to someone named Sly so I figured that since you were the only one on the property with that voice, I figured that I’d come and check you.”

“Ah, I see. Sly’s my pet fox. Or at least I think he’s a pet. My dad told me that he came with the property.”

“Is it only you and your dad here?”

I sighed at his question before answering. “Well yeah, but now I guess it’s just me… My dad left back home to get some important business taken care of. He’s the chief officer of the town and so I guess it’s his duty.”

“You must be feeling devastated that he left you.”

“Yeah. This summer was supposed to be all about us and having to spend time together. I guess that chance just isn’t coming this time.” I tilted my head and gaze downward like a sad puppy, but was suddenly forced to look up as I felt Derek’s hands grabbing mine.

His hands felt rough, but smooth at the same time. They felt cold, but I could sense warmness in there that was able to make me feel able at the slightest. To feel his hands on mine, holding them, the skins rubbing against each other, it felt… nice. It made me calm. I smiled softly as I looked at him.

“You and your dad will get some time together. It may not be today, may not be tomorrow. But that time will come. It will never cease to happen, but the time will come. And it’ll feel great. No one deserves to feel abandoned. Not you or anyone.”

I nodded in response at broke the gaze he was giving me. “Thank you, Derek.” We both pulled out hands back simultaneously and sat there in silence before I was able to speak up.

“Um, I’ve been meaning to ask you something; a couple of things, actually.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Last night, I’ve came across something unusual. It happened in my bedroom upstairs…” I paused for a moment before continuing, “it was a bookcase.” I glanced at him and he seemed to have shifted in his seat. “What happened was, I was looking for a book to read and I suddenly pulled one that triggered the bookcase to open itself. It was a hallway, Derek.”

“So you’ve found it, huh.”

I nodded in response, and then paused. Wait. “Wait, what do you mean I’ve found it?”

Derek sighed and stood up. “I need to show you something, Stiles. I don’t know if you’re ready to see it or what your viewpoint of me will be after, but I just need to show you.”

I looked up at him and watched him with a questioning look. “What is it?”

He moved past me and headed towards the small lake. I didn’t know what he was going to show me. And what did the lake have to do with it? Was he going to show me his swimming skills? Maybe possible back strokes and cannon balls? The thoughts of those wiped away as soon as I saw him take off his clothes.

My cheeks went red as I saw him taking one by one piece of clothing off. The jacket, the shirts, his belt, his pants… until he was completely bare. I tried to turn away to not look at him, but I couldn’t help myself. And he said that he was going to show me something so I don’t think I had the option of turning away. But seeing him, bare and nude and out in the open, I couldn’t help by study him. His body was something that resembled to an Adonis. It was completely perfect; his chiseled jaw line, his muscular body, the dimpled cheeks of his behind. Oh god, was I really looking at those? My cheeks felt even redder until he finally moved, walking towards the water.

What I saw was something that was unbelievable and unexplainable. It was something that was literally out of this world and I was honestly shocked to have even encountered this. Derek stepped into the lake and his legs suddenly gave off a really bright light that caused me to shield my eyes. He continued walking into the water until he dove under, the light dimming until it was gone. It took him a few seconds until he finally rose to the surface. He gestured me to come over but I felt as if my legs had become numb and I wasn’t able to move. But somehow I was able to move them anyway.

I slowly moved towards Derek, studying his new form. His upper body was just a regular human being, much like mine and he didn’t look like h changed one bit. But what I saw from down under was something that would scar me for life. His legs turned into scales and soon finally, it formed into a fully grown fish tail. It was like a holographic card from the way it was changing. His scaled were the color of sea green and it shined as the sunset rays beamed down onto the lake. My mouth was opened because I was astonished at the sight and my legs suddenly felt weak until finally they gave in, and so did my consciousness. The last thing I remember was falling into the wet arms of Derek, who was now transformed into a merman.


End file.
